Details
Creator Akin, James, ca. 1773-1846, artist.
Contributor Kennedy & Lucas, printer.
Title Philadelphia taste displayed. Or, bon-ton below stairs. [graphic] / Drawn on stone by James Akin.
Publisher [Philadelphia]: Kennedy & Lucas, lithographic printers
Date [ca. 1830]
Physical Description 1 print: lithograph, hand-colored; 29 x 41 cm.(19.5 x 14.5 in.)
Description Satiric scene showing high society, i.e., "bon-ton" in a Philadelphia oyster cellar. A "gentleman" descends the stairwell to the swankly decorated cellar where a motley gathering of men drink, smoke, gossip, and suck oysters. An African American bartender serves drinks from decanters in the left of the image. The bar is adorned with a notice reading "City Privilege still without license." Another African American attends the oyster bar. Plates, crackers, salt, and vinegars line the edge. In the right of the image, a sick-faced patron wobbles and spills his drink next to a tall clock with a decorated face and the inscription "Music has charms." Possibly, the cellar at 806 Market Street operated by African American proprietor James Prosser from about 1830.
Is referenced by Wainwright 290
Notes Inscribed on verso: Said Wm Van [?] of the Walnut/ Chestnut? St. Theatre.
Philadelphia on Stone
POS 598
Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Bb 38 O 97
LCP exhibit catalogue: Made in America #40.
Jackson, Joseph, Encyclopedia of Philadelphia, p. 386-387
Subject Oyster industry -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African American men.
Genre Lithographs -- 1820-1830.
Satires (Visual works) -- 1820-1830.
Location Historical Society of Pennsylvania | HSP Bb 38 O 97